Collapsible materials handling container

ABSTRACT

MATERIAL HANDLING CONTAINER, READILY COLLAPSIBLE TO A FLAT FOLDED FORM FOR STORAGE AND INCLUDING FOUR WALL PORTIONS HINGED TOGETHER AT THEIR ADJACENT ENDS AND RETAINED TO A RECTANGULAR FORM BY A SERIES OF STAKES FORMED INTEGRALLY WITH AT LEAST TWO OF THE WALLS OF THE CONTAINER AND ENGAGEABLE WITH SOCKETS IN THE BASE OF THE CONTAINER. ACCESS MAY BE HAD TO THE INTERIOR OF THE CONTAINER FROM A TOP OR A SIDEWALL OF THE CONTAINER. THE ACCESS MEANS FROM A SIDEWALL OF THE CONTAINER INCLUDES NESTED ACCESS PANELS IN ONE WALL OF THE CONTAINER NESTED IN THE WALL OF THE CONTAINER AND HAVING INTERLOCKING ENGAGEMENT WITH EACH OTHER AND WITH THE WALL OF THE CONTAINER.

United States Patent {72] Inventor Carl T. Flodin Morton Grove, 111. [21] Appl. No. 819,586 [22] Filed Apr. 28,1969 [45] Patented June 28, 1971 [73} Assignee Bigelow-Garvey Lumber Co.

Chicago, 111.

[54] COLLAPSIBLE MATERIALS HANDLING CONTAINER 5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.C1 217/16, 217/56 [51] Int. Cl 865d 9/18 [50] Field of Search 217/16, 36, 43 (A), 43, 48,12, 62, 56

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,900,828 3/1933 Lubin 217/56 2,808,956 10/1957 Johnson 217/48 2,981,433 4/1961 Kordowski 2 l 7/43A FOREIGN PATENTS 636,440 4/1950 Great Britain 217/43A Primary Examiner-Raphael H. Schwartz Anorney- Hill, Sherman. Meroni, Gross and Simpson ABSTRACT: Material handling container, readily collapsible to a flat folded form for storage and including four wall portions hinged together at their adjacent ends and retained to a rectangular form by a series of stakes formed integrally with at least two of the walls of the container and engageable with sockets in the base of the container. Access may be had to the interior of the container from a top or a sidewall of the container. The access means from a sidewall of the container includes nested access panels in one wall of the container nested in the wall of the container and having interlocking engagement with each other and with the wall of the container.

PATENT ED Junee I9?! SHEET 2 OF 2 COLLAPSIBLE MATERIALS HANDLING CONTAINER OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION A principal object of the present invention is to provide an efficient and simple container foldable into a flat form for storage and opening into a rectangular form for use, arranged with a view toward affording ready access to the container from a sidewall thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simplified form of collapsible container, readily set up from a flat folded form and having stake and pocket means having interlocking engagement between the base and sidewalls of the container, for rigidly holding the container in its assembled form.

A further object of the invention is to provide a collapsible container for storing materials and providing rigid sidewalls for the container, affording access to the container from either the side or top thereof.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a simple and improved form of collapsible container in which access to the container is afforded through nested panels closing a sidewall of the container and enabling one or both panels to be readily removed to afford access to the container from the sidewall thereof.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, although variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure and in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view of a container constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention showing the container in its assembled form;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the container illustrating the process of assembling the end and sidewalls ofthe container to the base of the container;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the base for the container;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view somewhat similar to FIG. 1, but showing the panels affording access to the container in an exploded form, in order to illustrate certain details of the removable access panels for the container; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along line V-V of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF INVENTION In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, I have shown a rectangular container 11, having parallel sidewalls 12,12 a backwall 13 and an open front wall 15. The walls 12, 12, 13 and 15 are hinged together to be folded to a flat form by'suitable hinges 16,16 generally shown in the drawings as wire hinges, although they need not necessarily be such hinges. Effective and inexpensive hinges for foldable containers of the class described are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,808,956 which issued to J. S. Johnson on Oct. 8, 1957 and assigned to the assignce of the present invention. The form of hinges is no part of the present invention, except insofar as it forms a means for connecting the four walls ofthe container together, to be assembled into an open top rectangular container, and to be removed from the container base and hinged into a flat folded form.

The backwall 13 of the container is shown as being formed by boards 17 in side-by-side relation with respect to each other and connected together along the top and bottom ends thereof and intermediate the ends thereof by horizontally extending parallel spaced battens 19, 20 and 21. The wall may also be in the form of a solid or open panel reinforced by the battens 19, 20 and 21, and need not necessarily be formed from boards. The batten 21 is spaced above the bottom of the wall 13 a distance equal to the thickness of an alignment member 22, extending across the top and rear end portion ofa base 23 for the container. Said alignment member is adapted to be engaged by the underside of the batten 21 and the lower end portions of the backwall 13 and boards 17 thereof, to

form an abutment therefor, as the walls 12,12, 13 and 15 are assembled to the base 23.

The sidewalls 12 of the container in a like manner are shown as being formed by boards but may be formed from a solid sheet of material such as plyboard or any other suitable material. The boards forming the sidewalls 12,12 may be connected together in side-by-side relation with respect to each other, by parallel spaced battens 24,24 extending horizontally along the outsides of the top and bottom portions of the sidewalls, and intermediate the ends thereof in alignment with the battens 19, 20 and 21 on the backwall 13. The boards forming the sidewalls of the container include two spaced intermediate boards 25,25 having lower end portions 26,26 depending beneath the lowermost battens 24 of said sidewalls and forming stakes, engageable with pockets 27,27 formed by inwardly opening slots in skirts 28,28 extending along opposite sides of the base 23. The slots in the skirts 28,28 open to the ends of boards 29 extending across said base and forming the top thereof. The skirts 28,28 are shown as being flush with the tops of the boards 29 and as abutting the outsides of parallel vertically extending rails 31,31, extending across the bottom of the base 23, and supporting the top portion of the base above the ground and forming battens for the boards 29 forming the top of the base. The spaced rails 31 accommodate the fork of a fork lift truck to pass under the bottom of the base to lift the container, and also accommodate tiering of the containers one on top of the other, when filled with material.

As shown herein, three parallel rails 31,31 are provided, These rails may be provided with downwardly opening notches 32 adjacent their opposite ends, to enable the ends of said rails to engage the inner and top edges of a next lowermost container, to accommodate ready tiering of the containers of the same size.

The open front wall 15 of the container is shown as including two parallel vertically extending laterally spaced wall members or panels 33,33, extending parallel to the backwall 13 of the container, and along the edges of the opposite sidewalls 12,12 of the container.

The wall members 33 each have a reinforcement strip 35 extending across the top thereof in alignment with the battens 24,24 of the sidewalls 12,12, an intermediate reinforcement strip 36 extending across each panel 33 in alignment with the intermediate battens 24 and a lower connecting strip 37 connecting the two wall members 33,33 together, and in alignment with the lower battens 24,24. The wall members 33 extend beneath the connecting strip 37, and the insides of said wall members are adapted to abut a front edge 39 of a front board 29 of the base 23. A stop strip 41 extends across the tops of the front end portions of the rails 31,31 and limits downward movement of the front wall 15 as the container is positioned on the base 23. The strip 41, the front edge 39 of the board and the strip 22 form abutments for the front and rear walls of the container and cooperate with the stakes 26 and stake pockets 27, to retain the container in its rectangular assembled form, as placed on the base 23.

The space between the wall members 33 and above the lower connecting strip 37, forms an opening 43 in the front wall of the container, opening to the front and top of the front wall and closed by a pair of nested interlocking panels 44 and 45, having nested interlocking engagement with each other, and with the front wall members 33,33 of the container.

The interlocking removable panels 44 and 45 cooperate with the .wall members 33,33 to form a removable front wall for the container. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the panel 44 is of substantially the height of the sidewalls 12,12 and its lower end extends along the inside of the connecting strip 37, and has engagement with a front edge 39 of the top of the base 23, and the top of the cross member 41, when said panel 44 is in position in the opening 43. The panel 44 includes parallel spaced wall members 47 extending along the panels or sidewall members 33 when the panel is in place, and connected together at their lower ends by a retainer member 48, spaced above the bottoms of the wall members 47, and of substantially the width of the connecting member 37. The retainer member 48 thus connects the wall members 47,47 together at their lower ends and maintains said wall members in spaced relation with respect to each other, and is spaced above the bottoms of said wall members 47,47 a distance suffcient to allow said wall members to extend along the inside of the connecting strip 37, downwardly into engagement with the front face 39 of the top of the base 23.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, two intermediate panel or wall members 49 close the gap between the wall members 47, along the top portion of the panel and cooperate with said wall members 47, to provide a rectangular opening 50 in the front panel 44 to be closed by nesting the smaller panel 45 therein. The wall members 47 and 49 are connected together at their upper ends by an interlocking member 51. Said interlocking member extends across the insides of said wall members and beyond the outer sides of the wall members 47, to provide abutment tongues 55, engageable with the insides of the wall members 47, to lock the panel 44 in position as slidably moved downwardly along the insides of the wall members 33, forming the opening 43. The top of the interlocking member 51 is on a level with the tops of the boards 49 and wall members 47.

A retainer member 56 extends across the front of the wall members 47 and 49 and outwardly beyond opposite sides of the wall members 47 and has a lower side or edge spaced beneath the bottoms of the wall members 49 and defining the top of the opening 50. The retainer member 56 may thus engage the front faces of the wall members 33,33 of the front wall and cooperates with the interlocking member 51 as well as the connector member 48 to lock the panel 44 to the container. It should here by understood that the interlocking member 51 and the member 37, engaging the front sides and lower end portions of the wall members 47, retain the outer panel 44 from outward movement relative to the container.

The opening 50 in the panel 44 is closed by the panel 45 when nested thereimThe panel 45 is shown as being formed from boards connected together by an upper abutment member 59. The abutment member 59 is spaced beneath the top of the boards forming the wall of the panel 45 a distance sufficient to accommodate the upper end portion of the boards of the panel 45 to engage along the inside of the retainer member 56. The abutment member 59 extends beyond opposite sides of the panel 45 to engage the outsides of the wall members 47, when the panel 45 is in position in the opening 50.

A lower abutment member 60, parallel to the member 59, and shown as being of the same general dimensions as the member 59, extends across the panel 45-above the bottom thereof and engages the outsides of the wall members 47 when the panel 45 is in place in the opening 50. The portion of the panel 45, extending beneath the member 60 defines a front abutment face 61, engageable along the inside of the member 48, and cooperates with the inside of the member 56, to retain the panel 45 in position in the opening 50, as the front panel of the container is closed.

Assuming the walls of the container 11 have been hingedly moved to a rectangular form and assembled to the base 23, in the manner shown in FIG. 2, the nested panels 44 and 45 may then be assembled to the front wall ofthe container to provide a solid front access wall for the container. This is attained by first placing the panel 44 in the opening 43 with the bottom of the panel engaging the base 23 inwardly of the connecting member 37 and the panel 44 inclined outwardly relative to the front wall of the container. The panel may then be lifted until the interlocking member 51 clears the tops of the wall members 33 and then be moved inwardly into alignment with the wall members 33, a distance determined by the ends of the abutment member 56 and the connector member 48. The panel 44 nested in the opening 43 may then be lowered, with the tongues 55 of the interlocking member 51 moving along the insides of the wall members 33, and the ends of the abutment member 56 moving along the outsides of the wall mem bers 33, until the rear lower faces of the wall members 47 engage the front face 39 of the front board 29 of the base 23 and the bottom of said wall members engage the stop strip 41. The panel 44 is then interlocked in position, and can only be removed of intentional upward sliding movement thereof.

When the panel member 44 has been assembled, the panel 45 may then be nested in position in the opening 50 of said panel member 44, to completely close the front wall of the container. This is attained by placing said panel member 45 with the top thereofinclined towards the opening 50 and moving said panel upwardly along the opening 50, with the top portion thereof slidably engaging under the member 56 and inclined, as generally shown in FIG. 4. As the bottom of said panel 45 clears the top of the member 48 said panel 45 may then be moved inwardly until the abutment members 59 and 60 engage the outsides of the wall members of the panel member 44. The entire panel 45 may then be slidably moved downwardly to engage the depending portion 61 of said panel 45 with the inside of the connecting member 48 and with the front side 39 of the board 29 of the base 23. The container then has a rugged solid front wall, affording ready access to the interior of the container from the front wall thereof.

A rigid front wall for the container has thus been provided for retaining loose materials in said container for storage in which the entire panel 44 may be removed for access into the interior of the container, or the panel 45 may be removed separately of the panel 44 to afford a smaller access opening to the interior of the container.

It may be seen from the foregoing that a simple and efficient collapsible container has been provided for storing loose materials, so arranged as to readily be interlocked and aligned with the base of the container and to be removed from the base and folded into a flat condition for storage separate from the base.

it should further be understood that when the container is stored to a flat condition, the nested panels 44 and 45 are usually removed, although they need not necessarily be removed where the hinge structure is such as to accommodate movement of the front wall of the container away from the sidewalls thereof, when folding the panel into a flat condition for storage.

It may further be seen that the container provides a wide or narrow access area into the interior of the container in accordance with the need for access to the materials within the container and that the base, four walls and access panel are all interlocked in a simple manner and accommodate ready removal of the access panels and assembly thereof as well as ready assembly and folding of the containerfor storage.

lclaim:

1. In a collapsible reusable materials handling container, four vertical walls arranged in edge-to-edge right angled relation with respect to each other;

means hinging said four walls together at adjacent ends thereof, to be collapsed to a flat condition for storage and to be set up into a rectangular form;

a base for said container including a base panel forming the bottom of the container;

interengaging stake and socket means cooperating between said base and certain of said walls, to detachably retain said walls to said base to form a rectangular container, and to afford ready removal of said walls from said base to be collapsed into a flat form for storage;

at least three parallel spaced rails forming a support for said base panel, the outermost of said rails being flush with the outer side edges of said base panel;

said rails extending forwardly and rearwardly of said base panel;

an alignment member supported on the portions of said rails extending rearwardly of said base panel and having a top surface at a higher level than the level of the top surface of said base panel;

a stop strip extending across the portions of said rails extending forwardly of said base panel and having a top surface at a lower level than the level of the top surface of said base panel and accommodating the front wall of said container to be supported thereon; and

said alignment member having a front wall cooperating with the front wall of said panel, and said front wall of said alignment member and the front wall of said panel forming abutment and alignment surfaces for two opposite of said four walls of said container on said base.

2. The collapsible reusable container of claim 1, wherein the interengaging stake and socket means comprise aprons extending along the outsides of the outermost ofsaid rails;

wherein the aprons have inwardly opening slots extending vertically therealong and opening to the outermost of said rails and cooperating therewith to form sockets; and wherein opposite of said sidewalls have depending lower end portions forming stakes engageable with said sockets.

3. The collapsible reusable container of claim I,

wherein one of said vertical walls is open and has an interlocking access panel closing the open portion of said wall and affording access to said container; and

wherein the access panel has a second panel nested therein.

to afford access to said container through said first panel.

4. A collapsible reusable materials handling container comprising:

front, rear and parallel sidewalls arranged in edge-to-edge right angled relation relative to each other, and hinged together to be collapsed into a flat condition for storage;

a base for said container;

interengaging stake and socket means affording interengagement between said sidewalls and said base and affording a means for detachably mounting said sidewalls on said base, to extend upwardly therefrom in a rectangular form;

said front wall having an open portion affording access to said container from the front thereof, and having a first connector member extending across said open portion adjacent the bottom thereof;

nested interlocking panel means nested in the open portion of said front wall and including a first panel having an upper interlocking member extending beyond opposite sides thereof and adapted to slidably engage the inside of said front wall of said container on opposite sides of the open portion thereof, a first retainer member spaced beneath said interlocking member and engageable with the outside of said front wall; and

a second retainer member spaced above the bottom of said first panel and adapted to engage the outside of said front wall on opposite sides of the open portion thereof, and said first panel having a lower portion extending beneath said secondretainer member and having slidable engagement with the inside of said first connector member and cooperating with said upper interlocking member to hold said panel from outward movement relative to said container.

5. The collapsible reusable materials handling container of claim 4,

wherein the nested interlocking panel means includes an open portion in said first panel and a second panel nested in said open portion and said second panel having vertically spaced first and second abutment members extending across said second panel, the first of abutment member being spaced beneath the top of said second panel on the outside thereof and extending beyond opposite sides thereof, the second abutment member being spaced above the bottom of said second panel and extending beyond opposite sides thereof, and slidably engageable with the outside of said first panel;

wherein the first retainer member extending across the first panel and the open portion thereof has an inner face adapted to be engaged by said second panel above the first abutment member on said second panel and cooperating with said connector member extending across said open portion in said first panelto retain the second panel from outward movement relative to said container, said retainer and connector members cooperating with the outsides of the end portions said second panel projecting above and below said first and second abutment members to form a slide therefor and retain the second panel from outward movement relative to the container except when said second panel is in an uppermost position relative to said first panel, with said first abutment member in engagement with said retainer member and the bottom portion of said second panel is released from said connector member. 

